Picture hanger with locking hook



Jan. 30, 1951 F. A. GENUA PICTURE HANGER WITH LOCKING HOOK Filed June18, 1949 HTTDRA/FY Patented Jan. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICEPICTURE HANGER WITH LOCKING HOOK Frank A. Genua, Waterbury, Conn.

Application June 18, 1949,Serial No. 100,019

This invention relates to picture hangers, and more particularly to apicture hanger of the type which has a hooked metal strip provided withan inclined nail adapted to be driven into a wall.

One object of this invention is to provide a device of the above naturewhich will releasably hold a picture wire or cord located thereinagainst shifting, whereby the picture or other article supported willnot become accidentally unbalanced as a result of dusting operations,vibration, or other causes.

Another object is to provide a device of. the above nature in which theupper portion of the strip is bent downwardly so as to form a resilientcurved detent for gripping the picture wire against the upwardly bentbottom portion of said strip.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which willbe simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to installand manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very efficientand durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on theaccompanying drawing one form in which the invention may conveniently beembodied in practice.

In the drawings, a

Fig. l is a side view of the improved picture hanger, a supporting wallbeing shown by the broken line.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same, a picture wire therein being shownby broken lines.

Fig. 3 is a side View similar to Fig. 1, but showing the hanger as itwould appear in use when holding a picture wire or cord.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the improved picturehanger comprises an elongated metal strip ID, the centralverticalportion of which is made flat so as to provide a wall-engagingbase section H.

In order to provide a hook for supporting a picture wire or cord B, thestrip I is bent forwardly and upwardly at the lower end of the basesection I! so asto form a rounded bottom portion I2 and a curvedupwardly-extending front portion I3, which terminates opposite themiddle of the base section I I.

The strip I0 is bent forwardly at the upper end of the base section If,and at right angles thereto, and is then bent downwardly so as toprovide a forwardly rounded upper loop M. The strip lllthen extendsdownwardly from the upper loop M to form a reentrant guide portion 15,

4 Claims. (Cl. 24832) which approaches the upper end of the bent hookportion [3 a short distance below its upper end. The strip 10 extendsdownwardly in the form of a curved detent portion it which conformsapproximately to the curved inner surface of the front hook portion 53,and is adapted to lie in resilient engagement therewith.

It will be observed that. the lower end of the detent portion it isdisposed within the rounded bottom portion 52, the latter being of amplesize to permit a rearward deflection of said detent portion, 16.

In order to support the picture hanger, the base section I l and theupper front portion of the upper 100p it are provided with apertures I1,[8, respectively, which are aligned in a downwardly and rearwardlyinclined direction. The apertures H, iii are adapted to receive a headednail I9, whereby the hanger may be mounted securely upon a wall A. Thewire B may, of course, be longitudinally adjusted whileit is looselyheld in the guide portion it by the upper end of the front hook portioni3, and before said wire is pressed downwardly in the hanger. If thisprocedure is followed, no further adjustment of the wire B will benecessary after it is pressed downwardly between the hook portion l3 andthe detent portion l6.

Operation In order to mount the hanger, the flat vertical base sectionII will first be placed in the desired location againstthe surface ofthe wall A, and the nail I9 will then be driven into said wall throughthe apertures H, l8 by the use of a hammer. I

A picture or other object having a supporting wire or cord B will thenbe hung upon the hanger by inserting a portion of said wire B into theconcave guide portion [5, and then pressing said wire downwardly betweenthe front hook portion 13 and the detent portion "5 until the wire B isdisposed in the location shown for example in Fig. 3, whereby said wirewill be firmly held by the resilient action of said detent portion 16against the hook portion !3.

While in this position, the wire B may be longitudinally adjusted bysliding it forcibly in a direction laterally of the hanger.

Thereafter, the resilient detent portion IE- and the hook 13 will offersufficient resistance to prevent any accidenta-l movement of said wire,either laterally or vertically with respect to said hangers.

Thus, when the picture wire B has been proper- 1y inserted and adjustedin the hanger, the pic- 3 ture will remain in a balanced condition assaid wire cannot be accidentally shifted in the hanger by dustingoperations or from other causes.

It will be understood also that if the picture should be accidentallymoved upwardly, the wire B will remain in the hanger, and will notbecome accidentally disengaged therefrom so as to permit the picture tofall.

If desired, however, the picture may be removed at any time merely bymanually forcing the wire B upwardly between the front hook portion i3and the detent portion l6 and out of the hanger.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in whichthe invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form isshown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention isnot to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified andembodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes all the modifications and embodimentscoming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. In a picture hanger, a vertical base section having aforwardly-extending lower hook portion, means for securing said basesection to a wall, and a depending detent portion attached to the upperportion of said hanger and disposed in resilient engagement with theinner front surface of said hook portion, said detent 4 portionterminating closely adjacent the inner bottom surface of said hookportion, whereby a picture wire may be inserted into said hanger so asto be firmly held between said hook portion and the detent portion.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said securing meanscomprises an upper loop integral with said base section, and said detentportion is integral with a forward portion of said loop.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said detent portion hasan integral reentrant guide portion opposite the free end of said hookportion, whereby the insertion of a wire in said hanger will befacilitated.

4. In a picture hanger, an elongated metal strip having a vertical fiatbase section, said strip being bent forwardly and upwardly at the lowerend of said base section to form an upstanding hook portion, said stripbeing bent forwardly and downwardly at the upper end of said basesection

